DEVELOPMENT OF CRITICAL THINKING OF A FUTURE TEACHER DURING PROFESSIONAL TRAINING IN THE UNIVERSITY

Abstract

In the modern society there is a growing demand for education of persons able not only to replicate the existing norms and traditions, but also to actively and independently analyze, evaluate, make conclusions and appropriate, objective decisions, develop oneself as a person and as a professional and reject one’s own stereotypes in performance and behavior. At the same time, there are tougher requirements for the professional competence of experts, as well as for their level of personal and social responsibility for professional decisions made, which is related to the tendency for constructing an open, democratic society distinguished by dynamic social structure, high mobility and a capacity for innovations and criticism. One of the actively developing trends of the modern higher education system reform is aimed at development of a person’s critical thinking, which suggests the existence of introspection skills in regards to one’s personal mental activity, the ability to operate notions, assessments, conclusions and questions, development of analytical and prognostic ability, problem-oriented vision, the ability to search for alternative, innovative forms, means and methods promoting rational solutions for issues and problems, as well as evaluation of the comparable abilities of other people, which makes development of this type of thinking crucial for development of a prospective educator’s competitive personality.